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I've got a 4 valve Contempora (.687) valve set here that I'm thinking of using on a new project, but the pistons are in need of replating.

I was comparing them to the pistons on a King 1241, and I was surprised to see that 3 of the four pistons appeared to be identical, in length, porting, and diameter, although not in the exact same order:

R2 = K4
R3 = K3
R4 = K1

The only outlier was Reynolds #1, which had no corresponding match - all pistons fit in each other's casings with no issues.

Q1: Am I imagining what I found? Is this too good to be true?

Q2: If "no" to the above, what are the odds of finding a new (or at least in nice condition) #1 Reynolds piston?

Q3: if it's "fuggedaboudit" to Q2, maybe the King sousaphone #1 piston would be a match (I don't have a sousaphone handy to make the comparison)?

Of course they're similar. H. N. White hired Reynolds away from York to develop the valved brass King instruments, while White worked with Thomas King, Pryor's second chair, to develop the trombone line, and where the name of the instruments comes from. When years later H. N. White tried to make Reynolds a factory rep, outside where he wanted to work, in the factory, he left to start his own company, then sold it and retired, then came out of retirement as a partner to Olds. So of course the pistons and almost everything about his brass instruments, including the underslung Contempora cornet being essentially the same as a King Master Model cornet, are the same: he made horns according to what he had learned at York, applied at King, and as his own in his own company.

iiipopes wrote:Of course they're similar. H. N. White hired Reynolds away from York to develop the valved brass King instruments, while White worked with Thomas King, Pryor's second chair, to develop the trombone line, and where the name of the instruments comes from. When years later H. N. White tried to make Reynolds a factory rep, outside where he wanted to work, in the factory, he left to start his own company, then sold it and retired, then came out of retirement as a partner to Olds. So of course the pistons and almost everything about his brass instruments, including the underslung Contempora cornet being essentially the same as a King Master Model cornet, are the same: he made horns according to what he had learned at York, applied at King, and as his own in his own company.

Many thanks for that info - design styles between York, King and Reynolds are definitely there.

My question however is about parts compatibility - similar is not close enough for my purposes. The Contempora valveset appears to be identical to the King sousaphone set, and the pistons also appear to be identical, as though Reynolds sourced them from King.

If they are interchangeable, I can save a lot of money by buying new pistons, rather than having the originals replated.

roweenie wrote:Many thanks for that info - design styles between York, King and Reynolds are definitely there.

My question however is about parts compatibility - similar is not close enough for my purposes. The Contempora valveset appears to be identical to the King sousaphone set, and the pistons also appear to be identical, as though Reynolds sourced them from King.

If they are interchangeable, I can save a lot of money by buying new pistons, rather than having the originals replated.

Guys - techs - TNFJ - I know about the similarities, but I can't give technical details about actual fit and possible interchanges. Anybody out there with real bench experience with both together to help Roweenie?

The pistons appear to cross-fit correctly in each other's casings - I'll take some measurements tomorrow when I'm back in the shop.

I'm still getting a good "pop" for each piston, even though there is some plating missing - even in #1, which is predictably the worst of all.